Diverse Activity of IL-17 + Cells in Chronic Skin and Mucosa Graft-Versus-Host Disease

This study focused on the identification of IL-17-producing cells in the tissue biopsies of cGvHD patients. Forty-one biopsy specimens of cGvHD lesions of the skin (n  =  27), gastrointestinal tract (n  =  9) and oral mucosa (n  =  5), examined in 24 patients, were morphologically defined according to the NIH criteria and analyzed for the presence of cellular infiltrations including: IL-17+, FOXP3+ and CCR6+ cells. IL-17+ cells were identified in 26/27 skin and in all gut and oral mucosa biopsies, being more frequent in mucosa lesions than in the skin (11/14 vs 14/26, respectively; NS: not significant). Double staining documented that CD138+/IL-17+ cells were commonly seen in the gut than in the skin (5/8 vs 3/11, respectively; NS). In the skin, cells expressing trafficking receptor CCR6+ were more frequent than IL-17+ cells compared to the mucosa (23/26 vs 2/13, respectively;p  <  0.0001). CCR6 was present on a majority of IL-17+ cells in all examined skin biopsies but only in 6 out of 11 digestive tract biopsies (p  =  0.0112). FOXP3+ cells were identified only in five patients (with mild lesions) at least in one biopsy. In this study group, results documented that local expansion of IL-17-producing cells in the digestive tract correlate with moderate and severe clinical symptoms of cGvHD, in contrast to the skin, where IL-17+ cells are rather scarcely present (p  =  0.0301) and the course of cGvHD is slowly progressing with final organ deteriorat...
Source: Archivum Immunologiae et Therapiae Experimentalis - Category: Allergy & Immunology Source Type: research